bridge build and destroy

Title

Bridge build and destroy

Problem Scenario

Broad Question

My broad question is to build bridges and see which one holds out the longest.

Specific Question

My specific questions to see which bridge will hold out the longest, bridges with big triangle or small triangles.

Hypothesis

My hypothesis will be that the smaller the triangle on the bridge the longer it will hold out .

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Type of triangle

Dependent Variable:

Time to collapse

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Same building material, the same length on each bridge the same amount of weight will be on the bridge.
Weigh each bridge and time each bridge to see how long it takes to collapse.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

length:
weight:
size:
same building materiel:
bridge design:

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General Plan

My general plan is that I am going to make two different types of bridges, the bridges are like the train bridges, the ones with the triangles. In this experiment I am going to make two different ones, one will be made with smaller triangles and the other will be made with bigger triangles. To construct the bridges I am going to use large Popsicle sticks and wood glue along with a saw blade to make cuts and clamps to secure the glue and wood. I will be measuring how much weight it can hold in a matter of time.

Potential Problems And Solutions

If I can not figure out how to make a train bridge I will research and find a different bridge design.

environmental safety concerns

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

What is your experimental unit?

I will be measuring two different types of bridges and which one is stronger. One will have less material at the same length.

Number Of Trials:

I will do this experiment three times with each bridge design.

Number Of Subjects In Each trial

2

Number of Observations:

6

When data will be collected

In a few weeks probably 2.

Where will data be collected?:

my house

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Saw blades		Hardware Store	$8.00
Glue		Craft Department	$1.50
Popsicle sticks		Craft Department	$4.00

Detailed Procedure

1)work on wiki put more photos on wiki and more research i will also be putting the conclusion in the wiki to.
2)start building bridges i will be building six bridges and three of them will have large triangle and the other thre wil have smaller triangles.
3)start experiment i will be starting my experiment at my house how i will do it is i will take two tables of the same height and place the bridge on it and i will be putting weights on it and time how long it will take to collapse.
4)finish experiment after i finish my experiment i will gather the results and put it on the wiki
5)next i will start my poster and print every thing that is necessary to go on the poster put extra time in it to make it look good
6)finish poster and enter in the science fair and hope to win

Diagram

Photo List

Time Line

procedure timeline 2/1, begin experiments 2/4, experiments done 3/7, analysis 3/7, discussion back ground 3/15, wiki complete

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3/15, poster 3/22, kms fair 3 29.

Data Table

I will have one column that is going to be what type of bridge it is and the other is going to be the time it collapses and lastly there will be the weight involved.

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

Smaller triangular bridge: This bridge will not have the same triangles that are on it it will have the same triangle as the bottom picture EXCEPT smaller.

Larger triangular bridge:These bridges are some what like what I am trying to build, it will be difficult because I have to make more than one in order to do multiple experiments.

Results

My results started when I was making all of the bridges. Most of them all had pretty much all the same amount of Popsicle sticks but the smaller bridges had less sticks and the bigger bridges had a little more . I got the hang of it so I did not have to keep looking at the other bridges that I had made earlier. When I started the experiments I put to table together at the same lengths of the bridges and got my timer ready and I had my dad hold the timer. I put the smallest weight on the bridge and then I kept on putting heaver weights on and the highest weight I put on forty five pounds the lowest was thirty and I kept on doing the same process five other times and then I made the results graphs and finished the wiki.

Conclusions

This data show that the bigger bridges could not hold out longer then the smaller bridges but the smaller bridges had less material and the bigger bridges had more the bigger bridges were also heaver then the smaller bridges my hypothesis was that I thought that the smaller bridges with the small triangles would hold the longest.That is exactly what I got smaller is better than the bigger.

Discussion

In my project I built two types of bridges one bridge was a bigger bridge than the other the other was smaller I built them off of a train trestle bridge what I did was took weights and place the weights on the six bridges that I had made three of the bridges were the ones that had smaller triangles on them and the other three were the ones that had the big triangles.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Benefits to the community or it helps engineers and it helps them figure out how they can build there bridges and tell them that the bridge they are trying to make are strong enough.

Background Research

I have researched on different types and designs of train bridges.

References

Abstract